This is a brief guide to researching records of merchant seamenseafarers on merchant vessels - ships that transport cargo or passengers serving after 1917. Many, but not all, records of merchant seamen survive from 1918 onwards. The records are kept in a variety of archives.
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What do I need to know before I start?
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Try to find out:
- the name of the merchant seaman
- their date of birth
- their place of birth
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What records can I see online?
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The Central Indexed Register of Merchant Seamen (1918-1941)
Search and download registry cards of merchant seamen employed between 1918 and 1941 (BT 348, BT 349 and BT 350) on findmypast.co.uk (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.). The originals are held by Southampton Archives.
For details of what sort of information the records may provide read the descriptions of BT 348, BT 349 and BT 350 in Discovery, our catalogue.
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First World War medals
Search and download cards recording the award of campaign medals to merchant seamen in the First World War (BT 351/1/1, BT 351/1/2 and MT 9/1404) (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.). These cards record the award of the British War Medal, Mercantile Marine Medal and Silver War Badge.
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Second World War medals
Search and download (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) records of Second World War medals issued to merchant seamen (BT 395) on our website.
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What records can I find at The National Archives at Kew?
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Seamen's pouches (1941-1972)
Search Discovery, our cataloguea search tool with descriptions of tens of millions of documents from the UK central government, law courts, and other national bodies, by name in BT 372 and BT 391 to see if a seaman's pouchan envelope or pouch assigned to each seaman containing employment records survives. Seamen's pouches are also available for the Second World War period arranged in alphabetical ranges in BT 390.
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Fourth Register of Seamen combined index (1918-c.1972)
Consult the registera volume of regularly and formally recorded information in BT 364 (1918 to c.1972). These index cards are on microfiche (the originals are held by Southampton Archives).
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Fifth Register of Seamen's Service (seamen's docket books) (1941-1972)
Browse our catalogue for seamen's docket booksseamen's docket book - document or register giving details of service in BT 382.
Not every pouch survives and many were destroyed before 1988.
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Index of First World War Mercantile Marine Medals and the British War Medal (1914-1925)
Look through the microfiche index in BT 351 by name for recipients of medals.
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Agreements and crew lists (1835-1994)
Search for agreements and crew listswritten agreements regarding conditions of service and crew lists filed by ships' masters with the Registrar General of Shipping by ship's official number in BT 99, BT 380 and BT 381 or by ship's name if it was a famous ship in BT 100.
You can obtain the ship's official number from Miramar Ship Index (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.).
For some dates after 1927, you will have to browse our catalogue as the numbers are given as ranges.
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Merchant Navy gallantry awards for the Second World War (1939-1947)
Search our catalogue by name of person or ship in T 335 to find what the award was, the person's rank at the time, and the ship they were serving on.
Narrow your search by using quotation marks to find a ships's or person's full name, such as "Sydney Star" or "John Williams"
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To access these records you will either need to visit us, pay for research (£there will be a charge) or, where you can identify a specific record referencea unique set of letters and numbers identifying a document in The National Archives, order a copy (£there will be a charge).
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What records can I find in other archives and organisations?
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Merchant seamen serving after 1972
Records of merchant seamen serving after 1972 are not held by The National Archives. Search the Maritime and Coastguard Agency website for 'service records' to find their information leaflet which offers further advice, or contact them directly.
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Agreements and crew lists (1861-1994)
Look at the websites of other archives and organisations which hold agreements and crew listswritten agreements regarding conditions of service and crew lists filed by ships' masters with the Registrar General of Shipping, including the Maritime History Archive in Newfoundland, the National Maritime Museum, the National Archives of Scotland and Ireland, and local archives.
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What other resources will help me find information?
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Books
Read My Ancestor was a Merchant Seaman by Christopher and Michael Watts (Society of Genealogists, 2002).
Read Tracing your ancestors in the The National Archives by Amanda Bevan (The National Archives, 2006).
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Merchant seamen serving up to 1857
Merchant seamen serving 1858-1917
Officers in the Merchant Navy